The world's central banks have acted in unison in an attempt to ease credit strains

The world's major central banks have unleashed co-ordinated action to ease the increasing strains on the global financial system, a move that sent stock markets up sharply.

The European Central Bank, US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the central banks of Canada, Japan and Switzerland all took part in the operation, which is designed to "enhance their capacity to provide liquidity support to the global financial system."